This is a stylish but rather empty venture from Abel Ferrara. Familiar themes surface -- substance abuse, guilt, self-destruction -- but are offered in the service of a tale that simply didn't need to be told. Matthew Modine is an alcoholic debauching his way down the tunnel, surrounded by Hollywood decadence, include Dennis Hopper in a hardly-surprising role as a rather perverse corruptor. Ferrara made the point that evil can be very, erm, attractive in KING OF NEW YORK, and he did it without having to have quite as many naked women cavort about on screen (there's much of that here). Modine is talented, as are the supporting cast, but come the end of the film I had learned nothing, and the only pleasures I could identify myself as feeling were masochistic ones. Now, if you LIKE seeing movies about people's descent to the bottom, maybe you'll get off on this, but...

Matty (Matthew Modine) is an actor with a great career and a hot French girlfriend named Annie. He is also an alcoholic and a major drug addict. He wants to settle down with Annie but she refuses his requests for marriage due to his addictions. This is what caused Annie to have an abortion. She didn't want their child to grow up with an addict for a father. Matty can't believe that Annie would do that and he taunts her by asking if it hurt when " they cut it out" of her body. He seems to forget that he is the one who suggested that she have an abortion. He is paranoid that she is sleeping with all of his friends despite her denying it. Annie grows tired of his abusive ways and leaves him. Dennis Hopper plays Matty's friend Mickey. He is a director who believes that all directors are as powerful as God. He thinks that the film he is making is an art film with serious ambitions. The film eventually turns into a snuff film full of sex, drugs, and violence. Matty and Mickey hop in Mickey's car and begin hitting up the bars looking for some women to film and have sex with. As Matty is having sex with one of the stars of Mickey's movie he whines endlessly about how much he loved Annie and wonders how he's going to live without her. He is too stoned to realize that Mickey is getting all of this on tape. The next morning Matty goes to a restaurant where he meets an attractive young waitress. Her name is Annie and Matty becomes obsessed with her. He asks her out that night and takes her to go see Mickey as he is editing his movie. Mickey starts calling her Annie 2. While Matty is off snorting some coke Mickey talks Annie into appearing in his movie. Something horrible happens to Annie 2 that night which is all caught on tape. Matty can't remember anything about that night since he blacked out and the only person that knows the truth is Mickey.A year and a half go by in which time Matty has gotten himself clean and sober. He has a new girlfriend as well. Her name is Susan (Claudia Schiffer) and the two share a small apartment in New York. Matty hasn't forgotten about his Annies though and when Susan goes out of town he heads back to Miami hoping to find out what became of his lost loves. It doesn't take long for him to find Mickey and start using again. In his drugged out stupor he tries to figure out what happened that night and what exactly is on that tape that Mickey made. This film is a total mess that had the promise of being something good. Abel could have made it an interesting Vertigo homage with Matty remaking Annie 2 into the original Annie and trying to live a life with her but Annie 2 doesn't last long enough for that to happen. What we are left with are endless scenes of Matty whining about his lost love and how bad his life is due to the drugs and drinking. That doesn't stop him from using though. Modine has been decent in other films but he overacts terribly in this one. Hopper is Hopper which is to say crazy. His scenes with the scared Annie 2 recall a bad porn where the camera man tries to coax his terrified starlet into saying or doing anything sexual. Claudia Schiffer is good looking but she can't act and her presence doesn't help the film any. Beatrice Dalle and Sarah Lassez, who play the Annies, are both good looking and they both get naked but their characters are never developed and we don't know enough about them to care. The film is just a disaster and easily ranks as one of Ferrara's worst films. The films that came before it (New Rose Hotel) and after it (R'xmas) are masterpieces in comparison.

Matthew Modine is a fantastic actor but lately it seems his fortunes have turned. He's rarely in anything decent and I guess his TV show "The Bedford Diaries" has been cancelled after 8 episodes. How low do you have to go to get cancelled from the WB?

Anyway, I was excited to find a film with Modine in the starring role that I had not seen.

This movie is terrible! I expected nothing and got it three-fold. I don't even know where to begin. The writing is bad and the characters just keep repeating their lines as though they can't believe the garbage they have to say. The plot is totally corny. I think the only reason I kept watching is because I don't recall ever seeing Modine so skeevy before and that was actually interesting.

But don't let that sway you.

Believe me, if I Could give this film negative stars, I totally would.

This movie is mainly about a guy who gets trapped into drug and alcohol abuse but manages to escape it. Somehow, as in real life, the your history will never be erased and he is trapped again in tragic circumstances with his new wife, pregnancy, memory loss from his 'wild days'. This film will not give much to viewer which has not experienced heavy drinking or drug use. For those which has bad experiences or any experience at all, will have a wake-up call and hopefully watch this film in awe. The film can be watched in the same session as 'Requiem for a dream', an uncredible film about drug abuse and the society that not only sells drugs 'illegally' but also a society in which one can get heavy drugs prescribed and legally.